Chuck



July 15, 1941. A. A. PRUCKNER CHUCK Original Filed Aug.- 15, 1938 4Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTQR. M k. (7% Mif @224- ATTORNEY.

July 15, 1941. A. A. PRUCKNER CHUCK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug.15, 1938 w W: Q, vw P W l 6% INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

u y 15, 1941- A. A. PRUCKNER 2,249,169

CHUCK ori inai Filed Aug. 15. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. I0.

li l/ A /25 7 728 HHLNVENTOR; /9 v w; we/1% i A. A; PRUCKNER 2,249,169

CHUCK Original Filed Au 15;. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 15, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE] to Superior TubeCompany, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Originalapplication, August 15, .1938, Serial No. 224,928. Divided andthisapplication May 22, 1940, Serial No. 336,532

- 9 Claims- My invention relates to chucks, and particularly toautomatic chucks and their operating mechanisms.

In accordance with my invention, a chuck is' provided with structuremovable during rotation of the chuck to position to support theworkbeyond or at a distance from the component of the chuck which holds anddrives it; more par I are claimed in my aforesaid application and indivisional application Serial No. 296,576, filed September 26, 1939. f

For an understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to theaccompanying drawings in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with some parts broken away and somein section, of a machine for making beaded tubular elements; Fig. 2,with some parts in section, is a view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

nism shown inFigs. 1 and 2; I

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of chuck mechanism shown in Fig. 3with some parts broken away;

plan

. Fig. 3 is a detail View, in plan and on enlarged;

scale, of tube-feeding and tube-ho1ding'mecha- Fig. 5 is a frontelevational view, partly in section, of the chuck mechanism shown inFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a detail view in front elevation of a collet-chuck shown inFig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a detail view, partly in section and,

Fig. 12 is a front elevational view, on en larged scale, taken on linel2-l2 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 13 to 18 illustrate the successive steps of a method for makingbeaded tubular elements; Fig. 19 is a side elevationalview, onenlargedscale, of heading mechanism shown inFi'gs. l and 2;

Fig. .20 is a front elevational view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 19.Referring to Figs. 1,2 and .3 of the drawings, the motor I is connectedby pulley2, belt Sand pulley 4 to the hollow spindle 5 supported by thebearing members Sextending abovethe frame or bed ,1. At the forward endof spindle 5jthe bore thereof tapers outwardly to 'fitthe'correspendingtaper of the head'B of the collet-chuck 9 whose shank l9 closely fitsthe main bore of the spindle. The inner end of the shank III, of reduceddiameter, is threaded to receive one end of the sleeve .H which extendsthrough the spindle and projects to substantial extent beyond the rearendthereof. ,7

To the rear extension of the sleeve II is se cured the coupling memberl2 from which extend thegbarsor slides 13 receivedby slotsin the.

member J4 secured to spindle 5 and abutting .the' rear bearing 6 toserve, as a thrust member preeluding axial movement of the spindle 5 tothe right. Axial movement of thespindle 5 to the left is prevented byengagement between the forward face of the front bearing ,6 and the rearfaceflof. thefmemberlli. secured tothe for ward extension of spindle'5.v f j; The nuts H6, 11, threaded upon the rear egten' sion of the sleevel 1, held between them. the, inner race: 19 of a ball bearing whoseout'er r'acejf 29 is pivotally held (Fig.9)- to the arm 22 piv'-" otallymounted upon the upper endof'abracketj 23, Fig. 1, extending upwardlyfrom the frame 1 of the machine. Near the other end-of thearm 22 ismounted the cam follower 24 held against, the cam 25 by spring 26connected between extension 21 of arm 22 and the, stationary bracket 28.The cam 25 is secured to shaft .29 driven from motor .I at speedsubstantially lower than, the speed of spindle 5 through the belt 30,pulley. 3| on shaft 32 of a reduction gear box 33. (Fig. 1),, the shaft34, sprocket 35, chain 36 and sprocket 31 on shaft 29. The speed ofshaft 29, which makesone revolution for each cycle of the machine, maybe from to revolutions per minute or.higher; the speed of the spindle 5is substantially higher, and preferably of the order of 1800revolutionsper minute. The most suitable spindle speed will de-.-, pendupon the diameter and material of tubing T. When, during eachrevolutionof cam 25, the cam follower- 24 moves to the right (Figs. 1 and 3) therotating sleeve 1 l is moved to the right, permitting the split head 8of the collet-chuck 9 to expand and so release its grip upon the pieceof metallic tubing T which extends entirely through the spindle andthrough other elements of the machine, as hereinafter described. Whencam 25 forces the arm 22 to the left, the sleeve II is likewise moved tothe left to draw in the colletchuck, the taper at the forward end of thebore of spindle 5 compressing the slit head 8 again firmly to hold thetubing T.

During the interval in each cycle of the machine when the collet-chuckis released from the tubing T, the tubing is fed to the "right to apredetermined extent through the spindle by the mechanism now described.Within the sleeve II are two more concentric sleeves 38, 39 (Fig. 3).The outer of these two sleeves is provided with a guide extension 38a ofreduced diameter which is slidably received by the bore of the shank ll]of the collet-chuck 9.

Upon the other end of the sleeve 38 are threaded the nuts 40, 4| whichhold between them the inner race 42 of a ball bearing whose outer race43 is pivotally mounted by pins 44, 44 to arm 45 whose upper end (Figs.1 and 8) is pivotally mounted upon themember 46 attached to member 12 onthe forward end of the linearly reciprocable tubular member 41. Thelower end ,of arm 45 is provided with a cam follower 48 received by thegroove of cam 49 attached to shaft 50 supported for rotation and axialreciprocation by the bearing members 51 and 52 extending upwardly fromthe frame 1 of the machine- (Fig. 1).

When cam 49 swings the member 45 in clockwise direction (Fig. 8) thesleeve 38 is moved to the left so that the taper 53 at the forward endof its bore (Figs. 3 and 7) engages the tapered forward end of a splitsleeve 54 and moves it to the left so that the rear tapered end of thesplit sleeve member 54 engages the taper 55 at the forward end of theinnermost sleeve 39. This relative movement of the sleeves 38, 39compresses the split sleeve '54 firmly to hold the tubing T whichextends therethrough. While the sleeves 38, 39-are in this position,both sleeves are moved to the right to feed the tubing T through thecollet-chuck which, at this time, is open or released from the tubing.To effect this feeding movement, there are secured to the rear extensionof the innermost sleeve 39 the stops 56 and 51 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3); theforward stop 56, as more clearly shown in Fig. 3, abuts the forward endof a ball bearing 58 at the forward end of the tubular member 41, andthe rear stop 51 engages the rear face of a ball bearing 59 disposedWithin the other end of the tubular member 41. There is connected to themember 41, intermediate its ends, the support 60 for the pin 61 (Fig. 2)connected by link 62 to the upper end of the lever 63 pivotally mountedat 64 (Fig. 1) upon the frame 1 and whose lower arm is connected by link65 to the lower armof a similar lever 66 pivoted at 61 upon the frame 1and whose upper arm carries a cam follower 68 received by the groove incam 69 on the shaft 29.

During each revolution of shaft 29, the cam 69 effects a forward and areturn stroke of the tubular member 41 to reciprocate the inner sleeve39. The cam 49 is so timed with respect to cam 69 that just beforebeginning of the forward movement of sleeve 39, the sleeve 38 is movedto the left with respect thereto to close the split sleeve 54 upon thetubing T so that, during forward movement of member 41 and sleeves 38and 39 under the control of cam 69, the tubing T is moved therewithbodily to the right through chuck 9 which at this time is open. Afterthe collet-chuck 9 has closed upon the tubing T under the control of itscam 25, the cam 49 effects movement of sleeve 39 to the left withrespect to sleeve 38 to release the split sleeve 54 so that, during thereturn stroke of sleeves 38 and 39 to the left, the split sleeve 54simply slides along the tubing.

In order to prevent the axial reciprocation of the member 41 fromdisturbing the desired relations between the cam 49 and member 45, thecam 49 is provided with a groove 10 which receives the yoke extension 1|of the member 12 at the forward end of the slidable sleeve 41.Consequently, as tubular member 41 moves to the right and left, the cam49 partakes of similar movement and maintains the same relative positionwith respect to member 41. The shaft 50 of cam 49 is driven from theshaft 29 by the sprocket 13, chain 14 and sprocket 15 slidably keyed tothe axially reciprocable shaft 58. The extent'of feed of the tubing Tmayconveniently be varied by shifting the points of connection of link65 to the levers 63 and 66 interposed between the cam 69 and theslidable member 41; to that end,

' the lower arms of they levers 63, 66 may each be provided with aseries of pivot-pinholes.

Preferably, the stroke of member 41 is selectedto be slightly greaterthan the desired length of the tubular electrodes or like tubularelements to be cut in succession from the forward end of the tubing Tprojecting beyond the co1let-chuck;

an exactly correct length of tubing beyond the chuck is determinedby astop 16 controlled as hereinafter described. The frictional grip of thesplit sleeve 54 upon the tubing T is sufficient to effect its forwardfeed, and yet is not so great as to in any way damage the tubing whenits for- Ward end is arrested by the stop and the sleeve 54 is forced tocontinue its feeding movement for a slightly longer time by continuedforward movement' of the inner sleeve 38. This continued grip and feedforward holds and forces tubing against the stop-thus insuring exactlength of the projecting section of the tubing. The stop 16, as moreclearly appears in Figs. 1, 2 and 12, comprises an arm Whose forward endis adapted to swing into the axis of rotation of member 5 to interceptthe tubing being fed axially thereof, as hereinbefore described. Therear endof the arm 16 is pivotally mounted upon a bracket 11 secured toaslide 18 adjustable as by the threaded member 19, in direction parallelto the axis of rotation of member 5. Upon the arm 18- is mounted the camfollower for engaging the periphery of the cam 8| on the one-time shaft29. Preferably, the arm 16 is biased to maintain engagement of camfollower 80 with cam 81 by the spring 16*. The cam BI is so shaped thatsuitably before the end of the forward stroke of the tubular feed member41, the arm 16 is dropped (Fig. 13) to intercept the leading end of thetubing T being fed through the coll et-chuck. Thereafter, the cam 8|lifts the arm 16 and holds it above the tubing (Figs. 6, 12 and 14)during other operations, hereinafter described, performed upon theprojecting piece of tubing.

Beyond the forward end of the spindle 5 there is adjustably mounted,upon the bed 1 of the machine, the supporting member 82 for the bar 83which carries the grooved tool 84 (Figs. 1, 2, 19 and 20). To the bar 83is secured the arm 85 which carries the cam follower 86 engaged by cam81 on the one-time shaft 29. After the stop I8 is lifted,the cam 8!permits movement of bar 83 to the left (Figs. 2 and 14) so that the for!ward end of the rotating tubing held by the chuck 9 is received by thegroove in tool 84, and as the movement of tool 84 continues to the leftunder the control of spring 83a and cam 81, the projecting portion ofthe tubing is bent upwardly, Fig. 15, due to the upward slope of thebottom of the groove in tool 84. The sides of the groove preventrotation of the projecting section of the tube about the axis ofrotation of the chuck and, in fact, prevent all rotation of the bentsection except about its own axis. In consequence, there is'formed, asshown in Fig. 15, a peripheral bead B at the bend in the tubing. (BeadBI was similarly formed in the prior cycle of the machine.)

To afford fine adjustment of the height of the bead, the angle betweenthe -azn's of rotation of the tubing and the line of reciprocation ofthe member 84 may be varied; for example, as shown more clearly in Fig.19, the supporting frame 82 for bar 83 may be pivotally mounted upon thebase member 88 and the angle controlled by the threaded stop 89 whoselower end abuts the upper faceof member 88. A spring 90 between member82 and 88 may be used to prevent vibration of they machine fromdisturbing the desired angular relation.

The two sections of tubing T, one section being the straight sectionheld by the chuck 9 and the othersection being the bent sectionprojecting beyond the chuck, continuously rotate, each about its ownaxis, and centrifugal force causes the forward end of the bent sectionto follow the bottom of the groove as the member 84 retracts so that thetwo sections of tubing again come "into alignment when 0001 94 is fullyretracted ly appears in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, are mounted upon slides 93, 93received by radial groove in the front face of member I5 attached to theforward end of spindle'5. The outer ends of the slides 93 are tapered tomatch the inner taper of ring 94 which encircles member I5. Springs 96bias the pair of slides and supporting members 92 away from each other.The ring 94 is attached to member 91 whose hub 98 supports the innerrace 99 of a ball-bearing whose outer race I90 receives pivot pins I9Iat the forked end of lever I92 pivoted at l93 to the standard I04extendin upwardly from frame I of the machine. Clockwise movement cflever I92 (Figs. 1 and 3) effects movement of ring 94 to the left sothat the afore-; said inner taper thereof forces slides 93, 93 and jaws92 toward and into engagement with the tubing Tsuitably beyond bead B.Upon'reverse movement of lever I02, the springs 96 restore the slidesand jaws to their original open position.

The movement of lever I02 is controlled by cam I 95 on the one-timeshaft 29; the face of the cam engages the cam follower I86 on arm I 91pivoted at I98 to standard I94 and connected by link I09 to lever I92.

Jaws .92 are replaceable by similar jaws idiiferently notched toaccommodate different sizes of tubing and having bases 92a of differentlength to support the tubing at different desired distances beyond thecollet-head 8. 1

The camv I is so shapedthat. the jaws 92 close upon the tubing after ithas been beaded and straightened and'before engagement there with of thescoring disk I III (Figs. .1, 2, 101 and 17) rotatably mounted uponmember I I I-pivotally mounted at I-I2'upon the adjustable'slide H3. Thepost II4 extendingupwardly from slide II3 provides apivotal support I,I'5 for lever 'II 6 which at its forward end threadabl receives theadjusting screw I I1 having at its lowerend a flared or head member forsupporting-member I I I.

Upon thesupporting member:InI8fo-rslide II3 is pivotally mounted at II9. the lever I26 having at its lower end a cam follower I-2I maintained.in engagement with cam I22-on shaft 29 by spring I23. From the upperend 1of1leverl20extends a in clockwise direction to lift the scoringdisk or cutter H9. When cam I22 swings arm I29'in're verse direction,the biasing spring IISa moves arm I I6 inclockwise direction so as toeffect en-- a circumferential score. or: groove. which weakens the wallof the tubing. The scoring-action can be nicely regulated byadjustmentof screw II'I whichcontrols; the angular relation between member I I I.and arm II-d-and-by adjustment of screw I25 which varies'the positionofslide ll I3 to change the distance between pivot N2 of member III andthe axis of-rotation'of the tubing.

. Though rotatabledisk ;I I0 is preferred, it'may be replaced by 'astright edged knife non-rotatably attached'to member119.

The distance from the chuck vll-at which-the cutter disk I I8 engagestubing T maybe varied by adjusting thescrew I 28 which threadablyengages the support I'I8'and passes through the stationarybracket I27.By turning screw I26;

the support H8 is movedalon'g the tracks12B parallel to the axis ofrotation of tubing T, Support. I I8'may be clamped in the desiredposition by tightening bolts I 29 which pass through'slo-ts' in the baseof support I I 8 into the frame member I. Similarly, the slidablesupport TI for the stop arm I6 may be heldin: desired position by boltsI30 which pass through slotsin the'base of support 11 into frame memberI.

After the tubing has been scored, and preferably after knife IIIl'hasbeen lifted therefrom, it is struck beyond the scoring by tool I3I (Fig;

18) to break or sever the tubing at the scoring and so detach therefromthe beaded element ET- suited for use as the cathode, or other componentof an electronic 'tub'e, s'u'ch as a spacing leeve, or for any otherpurpose requiring a tubular beaded element. The d'scribed'methodofdetaching the beaded elemehts'from the remaining length of tubingprovides for cleanfcut-,burr-free at the upper end thereof and cam I 36on the one time shaft 29. I

After an element ET has been detached from th tubing, the striker BI isreturned to its original position, supporting jaws 92 move away fromeach other to clear bead B, stop 16 is dropped to the position shown inFig. 13, the tubing T is released by opening of chuck 9 and the feedingof the tube T is initiated to bring the next section of tubing inposition beyond the chuck (Fig. 13) for formation of another element ETby the steps previously described and diagrammatically shown in Figs. 13to 18.

With the preferred machine disclosed, all of the operations areperformed automatically and the cycles follow without-pause orinterruption to form tubular elements until a length of tubing isexhausted. The operator then threads the leading end of anotherelongated piece of tubing through the machine and restarts it.

At considerable sacrifice in the rate of production, any or all of themovements effected by the cams on the one-time shaft 29 can be effectedmanually and any or all of the steps of the method shown in Figs. 13 to18 may be effected either manually or by mechanism differingsubstantially from the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

With the full-automatic machine of Figs. 1 and 2, beaded cathodes havinga diameter of from about 0.010" to about 0.100 a wall thickness of fromabout 0.001" to about 0.004", and a length of from about A to about 1%",are produced at the rate of from about 30 to 60 per minute. With asimilar machine of suitably increased dimensions, there may be made, forexample, beaded anodes having a diameter of upwards to 0.75", or larger,and a wall thickness of up to about 0.012".

The method of beading described is particularly suited for thin-walledtubing of comparatively small diameter and of metal; for example, it issuited for nickel, aluminum, copper, brass, or any other light-wallmetal tubing. The tubing is preferably seamless or drawn tubing althoughseamed tubing may be used particularly if the seam does not undulystiffen or thicken it.

In the appended claims, the term bead, or a variant thereof, is genericto and comprehends circumferential projections or protuberances which incross-section are rounded, approximately semi-circular, flat-sided, orother configuration.

What I claim is:

1. A chuck having jaws for holding and rotating the work, and auxiliarymeans carried by the chuck movable, during rotation of the chuck, in onedirection to position to support the work during an operation thereon,against deflection, at a region distant from said holding and drivingjaws and in reverse direction to another position clear of the work foranother operation thereon while held and rotated by said jaws.

2. A rotatable chuck for releasably holding the work for co-axialrotation therewith, auxiliary jaws carried by said chuck, and meansmovable axially of said chuck, during rotation thereof, in onedirection, to effect movement of said jaws to support the work during anoperation thereon, against displacement, at a region beyond itsengagement with said chuck and in reverse direction to retract said jawsfor, another operation upon the work while held by and rotating with thechuck.

3. A chuck comprising a meansfor rotatively driving the work, andauxiliary structure, free of driving engagement with the work, carriedby the chuck movable, during rotation of the chuck, in one direction toposition to support the work during one operation against deflection,without driving the work, at-a region distant from said driving meansand in reverse direction to position clear of the work for anotheroperation thereon while rotatably driven by said means.

4. A rotatable chuck for releasably holding and driving work forco-axial rotation therewith, auxiliary jaws, means for supporting saidjaws for rotation with said chuck and in such position the work extendsbeyond said supporting means for a tool operation thereon, and meansmovable axially of said chuck, during rotation thereof, in one directionto effect movement of said jaws to position to support the work, againstdeflection thereof during an operation thereon, at a regionsubstantially removed from that at which the work is held and driven bythe chuck and in reverse direction to retract said jaws for anotheroperation upon the work While held by and rotating with the chuck;

5. A chuck comprising a rotatable member including a work-holding colletfor holding and driving the work, auxiliary jaws, means for supportingsaid auxiliary jaws for rotation with said member and in such positionthe work extends beyond said supporting means for a tool operationthereon andfor supporting said jaws for movement toward and fromsupporting engagement with the work at a distance beyond said colletfrom and toward a position clear of the work held and driven by thecollet, and cam structure rotatable with said member and movabl axiallythereof to effect aforesaid movement of said jaws with respect to saidwork.

6. A chuck comprising a rotatable member having a bore axially thereof,a sleeve slidable within said bore, a work-holding collet within saidsleeve compressed upon and released from the work by sliding movement ofsaid sleeve in said bore, auxiliary jaws, means supporting saidauxiliary jaws for rotation with said member and in such position thework extends beyond said supporting means for a tool operation thereonand also supporting said jaws for movement toward supporting engagementat a distance beyond the collet with work held by said collet and fortheir. reverse movement from the colletto clear the work, and camstructure rotatable with said member and movable axially thereof toeffect aforesaid movement of said jaws with respect to the work.

7. A rotatable chuck for releasably holding the work for axial rotationtherewith, jaws carried by said chuck, cam means movable axially of saidchuck during rotation thereof to effect movement of said jaws to supportthe work, against displacement, at a region beyond its engagement withsaid chuck, and means operating in timed relation to rotation of saidmember intermittently to effect aforesaid axial movement of said,

cam means.

8. A chuck comprising a rotatable member, a work holding colletrotatable with said member, an element rotatable with said member andmovable .axially'thereof to actuate said collet, jaws rotatable withsaid member and movable toward and from supporting engagement with workheld by said collet, cam structure rotatable with said member andmovable axially thereof to effect aforesaid movement of said laws withrespect to the work, and means operating in timed relation to saidrotatable member for efiecting, in predetermined sequence, axialmovements of said element and said cam structure.

9. A chuck comprising a rotatable member having a bore axially thereofand radial grooves in an end face, a sleeve slidable within the bore, awork-holding collet within the sleeve compressed upon and released fromthe work by sliding movements of the sleeve in opposite directions insaid bore, jaws slidable in said grooves movable in one direction tosupport the work beyond said collet during one operation on the work andin reverse direction to clear the work for another operation thereonwhile held by the collet, and cam structure rotatable with said memherand movable axially thereof to effect aforesaid sliding movements ofsaid jaws.

ANTON A. PRUCKNER.

